Warriors of Light
by Miroku-dono
Summary: Side story. Daisen and Kruss were called to fight against a potential threat. How did they cope? How did they do? What really happened? Read to see.
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Blah blah blah, technicalities and crap.

Fujishima Kosuke owns AMG and its characters. I own Xerangref and Daisen, Kruss, Kyuss and Shantar (previous statements about using all of them stand).

**Warriors of Light**

Prologue:

Pain. Horrible, breath taking pain. That was all that he felt.

It was his assignment, along with several others, to prevent anything and everything from happening. However, there was no guarantee that things would turn out alright.

His current condition was proof of that. Several slashes ran along his back and arms. A rather deep gash was easily seen on his left thigh, the result of a slight mistake. The pain was almost too much to bear, but he had to continue and fight on.

Normally, such weak and pitiful demons wouldn't even stand a chance against him, yet their numbers easily looked around that fact. The twelve gods that fought on were outnumbered almost three to one. The worst thing of all, was the fact that no killing was to take place.

The doublet system forbid it for just one side to lose one of its numbers. If a causality were to occur, then both sides would loose someone. No killing was allowed, for everyone feared the doublet system, and rightfully so. He didn't know what the demons though of killing. They probably didn't care.

Instead of fatal blows, the gods would simply try to incapacitate their enemies. An arm or hand being cut off was the worst that could be done. Maim the enemy, so that he may not fight back.

The first day, everything had ended quickly. But since then, the battles had been going on for far longer.

He looked around once more to see that all his comrades had engaged enemy anew. He turned to look at his three opponents. Without warning, two of the three charged. Dodge left, parry right, duck, sidestep, roll and regain footing and wince. Everything was second nature now. He easily made his way back around behind one of the demons, as he was far faster, even in his injured state. With a hard punch and forceful dragging of his weapon, he disarmed one of his opponents. Literally.

Then he quickly moved back so he could see the remaining two threats. One still stood in the background, with no weapons drawn or shown. He quickly came back and began to attack the demon closest to him. Each seemed to anticipate and react according to whatever attack the other could throw at them.

He was still attacking and defending when he finally noticed the demon overextend his sword too far. With a quick duck and defensive maneuver, he pushed the attack away and was about to strike when he felt something sharp hit his back. Followed, quickly, by two more quick stabbing pains.

He turned his head slightly to see that the demon had summoned a bow and a quiver of arrows, and already had his fourth knocked and ready to sail towards the target: him.

He looked back at the demon an arms length away, only to see the demon smiling. With a flurry of motion, he was now staring at the demons from one of the mighty roots of Yggdrasil. He saw the sword come up and stared at the point. His eyes suddenly wandered to the left as he heard a shout. He looked back and saw Daisen desperately trying to break off from his opponents. He also knew why.

He was forced to look at his attacker when the demon started speaking in its demon tongue, which was extremely rough and harsh.

He understood nothing of what it said, but understood it wanted to kill him. He noticed he was correct as the demon drew his sword even higher for a final strike. The sword finally came on its last arch…

Kruss snapped awake and quickly looked around. He noticed he was still in the camp they had set up well over three days ago.

A dream…it had all been a dream.

Kruss lay back down and stared towards the sky. After a few minutes, he stood up and walked over to the little camp fire that was in the center of the camp.

"Something bothering you?"

Kruss turned his head to look over at Daisen. He noticed that his elder companion had a questioning look on his face.

"Nothing, just a bad dream," was the response with a shake of his head.

Daisen nodded and looked at the fire for a few seconds before turning back to Kruss, "Don't stay awake too late. It's not your night shift. We need everyone at full strength for the raid tomorrow."

Kruss nodded and stared into the fire. He felt Daisen slap his shoulder and mutter a goodnight, then heard the footsteps of his comrade slowly becoming softer.

Tomorrow…tomorrow it would all renew again. New experiences, new pleasures and new pains.

Kruss' eyes flashed as he thought of what awaited him at next sunrise.

'Yes…tomorrow…'

With that final thought, Kruss turned back and started to walk to his sleeping area.

**A/N:** I know I've mentioned side stories with the warrior gods, and this is one of them. It's going to be a bit more dark natured, and probably more violent. It pretty much reflects my current mood.

For those of you wondering why nothing has been posted in a while, it's because I've been busy. Some rather personal things have passed, which, sadly, have now passed, but not in the way most wanted. I've also been fairly busy with other things.

I took this story as an escape, recommended by Duo (aka Thaylien). I didn't want to continue with Destiny's Beginning, as I might write something I didn't want in it.

I won't be around for a week after next Wed, as we're heading out of state for Christmas. But afterward, I may take a light semester due to what has recently passed. More writing in the future is probably a guarantee.

Until then.


	2. Chapter 1: Beginning of the End

Blah blah blah, technicalities and crap.

Fujishima Kosuke owns AMG and its characters. I own Xerangref and Daisen, Kruss, Kyuss and Shantar (previous statements about using all of them stand).

**Warriors of Light**

Chapter 1: Beginning of the End

Kruss was awaked once again; but this time, it was due to shouting that seemed to be coming from the outer perimeter of the camp.

As soon as he stood, Daisen was immediately by his side telling him to hurry to help in the defense.

The attack had been renewed once more.

It had already been a little over a week, but the time frame didn't seem to matter. The demons would press the attack to try to distract the front lines while a small defense team would try to advance to the junction point with a hacker.

Day after day, the same routine and drills. Day after day, the same stalemate as the outcome.

The fights in themselves were like well played out routines. Deadly, yet beautiful routines.

The main objective was to keep the small party aimed at hacking Yggdrasil at a comfortable distance.

Today seemed no different than any of the other days. Same routine, same fighting, even the same enemy.

The demons would retreat back at the end of each day to rest. And in addition to resting, they would also regenerate.

Although no warrior fought the same opponent twice, it made little difference. Each warrior god could easily see the previous opponents they had faced around them fighting their comrades.

Kruss looked over to see that Daisen had already engaged in close quarters with two demons. He sighed and quickly summoned his battle garb and weapons and ran to help his friends and comrades in arms.

He quickly engaged two demons that appeared near him and began to fight once more. This past week, he had certainly gained enough combat knowledge to know what to predict from the demons.

That was why the demons always changed their advances. If a god fought a particular set of demon attackers, it would be far too easy to counter.

Thus, the continued randomization continued. Along with the continued dance of doom, known as war.

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'Day 10

Front lines. Pointless and continuing.

I was careless. A demon scored a slash down the back side of my right thigh after he countered one of my attacks that was slightly over extended. I still managed to fight off the continuing attack, but the pain was intense.

The slash wasn't light either. It was almost a full 2 inches into the flesh and muscle. I was lucky it didn't strike anything major, lest more permanent damage be done.

No end seems to be in sight.'

'Day 15

Front lines. Still fighting. Boring and pointless repetition that seems to have no place or purpose.

Daisen was injured today. He had Siegbar knocked away and took a cut to the inner side of his left arm by another demon. It was nothing serious, but it still looked painful. He'll be fine by morning.

Things continue to be a struggle, but still, we continue on.

When will this stupid conflict end?'

'Day 20

Front lines. The fighting continued. Same as always. We pushed the demons forces back towards the end of the day, continuing on in the tradition of the constant stalemate.

Today, we had a slight advantage which put the demons away fairly quickly. Council member Thor graced the battlefield with his immense presence today.

Most of the demons took one look at him and either cowered slightly or seemed to pale. Needless to say, things were resolved much more quickly than normal. By midday, we received the reprieve that is normally granted somewhere around dusk.

Startling revelation however, as I saw the three demons in my dream near the back lines of today's assault. They seemed to protect one specific demon. A demon that was slightly hunched over, very dark and had an odd eye color that seemed to be a mixture of red and bright yellow.

If we can somehow take him out of the picture, this small and pointless skirmish will end.'

Kruss seemed to pause and looked over his writing. After a few seconds, he nodded and shut his little booklet. He'd always kept small logs of what he considered important.

In the little booklet, many events and battles had been recorded. Including his first fight solo and first fight with his friends.

Kruss sighed and looked up at the mighty tree. It's blue decadence and radiance was equal to any night sky back on Earth. The only thing that marred the true beauty of the tree was the dark red and black vines that were intertwined within several of the roots.

As Kruss turned back to his night shift, he wondered what the others were doing at that moment.

Perhaps, they were all together enjoying a nice evening at the house. Many evenings stood out in his mind as he thought of it.

The first time he met and fought with Belldandy and her sisters. The order to stay with them. The first real talk he, his friends and Keiichi had had. The night when everyone celebrated Keiichi and Belldandy's engagement.

So many memories over so little time. It was true what they said about the resilience of the human spirit.

It would always shine through and prevail over the greatest challenges.

Kruss nodded to himself. Now, he, too, had to prove his worth. To overcome any and all obstacles that stood in his path.

And that meant getting rid of the demon threat as quickly as possible.

**A/N:** I suspect this will only be one or two chapters longer. Not many people have read it, but it doesn't matter. This is simply a way to express my feelings.

I had fun over with my family in Arizona, but it ended a few days ago. I think that's why I felt more driven to write something in this side fiction.

See y'all 'round.


	3. Chapter 2: Day of Reckoning

Blah blah blah, technicalities and crap.

Fujishima Kosuke owns AMG and its characters. I own Xerangref and Daisen, Kruss, Kyuss and Shantar (previous statements about using all of them stand).

**Warriors of Light**

Chapter 2: Day of Reckoning

Kruss looked over the battlefield to see the same thing he'd grown accustomed to. Gods and demons locked in combat. Some using melee attacks, while others used supportive techniques from the backlines.

Against his better judgment, he'd told Daisen about his dream that he'd had on the fifth day that they'd been set to defend Yggdrasil. Daisen had warned him to keep it to heart, for it may not have been a dream, but a premonition.

As a result, Kruss had asked for a supportive role in the next attack to scout out the potential threat that he saw both the day before and in his dream. And possibly, this way he would remain unharmed and unhindered when he engaged his enemies.

As light came, Kruss began to get nervous. Even if he knew he was well equipped to handle the situation, something kept telling him that it felt wrong. Something felt like it was trying to warn him.

Warn him to avoid his impending doom.

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Kruss sat back and used both supportive spells and long range fire to help his comrades. His throwing daggers that Daisen had personally made were coming in handy. After each use, he would simply summon them back to his hand.

He'd already prevented several tragedies with his skill and active eye. He'd also been praised by several of his elders for his marksmanship and accuracy.

Praise was nothing to him, as he continued to scour over the battlefield to find his target. All of this would end if they simply put the hacker out of commission.

The entire day passed without much a hitch. The gods once again pushed the demons back, with no casualties and little injury. It was a simple repeat of the day before, and so many days before that.

Kruss sighed as he returned to the camp with his fellow warriors.

Another day, gone and passed.

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Kruss looked up as Daisen approached him with a rather funny look on his face.

"What is it?"

Daisen looked over to him and shook his head, "Nothing much…just I can't believe Uncle Thor would do this…"

Kruss looked at Daisen curiously, "Do what?"

Daisen held out a small note with Kruss took from his grip and read. His eyes slowly widened as he finished the letter, "He can't be serious?"

Daisen held up a small canister that the letter had come with, with an odd grin, "Wanna try it out?"

"You kiddin' me? I'm too young for that stuff! Hell, we don't even know what it would do to you or any other god here."

"Aww, c'mon Kruss! You've had a couple drinks with me and Shantar before. It's not like it'll hurt anything. Just give it a shot."

"I don't know…"

Daisen looked at him in annoyance, "Fine, you want me to try it first? Then will that put your mind at ease?"

Kruss looked at him with his mouth agape, "You serious? You honestly want to try something your uncle made? Knowing him?"

Daisen shrugged, "Why not? He's family, I trust him."

"He's nuts!"

Daisen rolled his eyes, "Just shut up and watch."

He proceeded to pull a small cap of the canister and undid the lid to it. He poured a honey color liquid into the cap and took a wiff of it. His eyebrows rose and he murmured something about it smelling good before putting the cap to his lips and drinking.

After a couple seconds, he looked at Kruss, "Pretty good. You want a shot?"

"What's it taste like?"

"Hard to describe, but it's pretty strong. You'd probably like it."

Kruss looked doubtful, but relented, "Alright, I'll give it a shot."

He took the cap Daisen drank from and watched as his friend poured more liquid into it. He put the cap to his mouth and took a few seconds, before finally downing the liquid.

Daisen was right, it was, indeed, strong. As soon as Kruss finished the drink, he found himself to be rather light-headed and very drowsy. He quickly passed out shortly after handing the cap back to Daisen.

The elder god had a grin on his face as he looked at the outcome of his uncle's legendary brew.

"At least he'll be fairly relaxed tomorrow…and have one heck of a hangover too."

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Kruss opened his eyes and immediately shielded them, the closed them again and slammed his hands over his ears.

He tried to remember what happened last night, but it was mostly a blur. He seemed to remember something about Thor sending Daisen a little gift, but that was all.

He put his hand to his head and quickly cast a spell that would alleviate the pain in his head.

That now done, he slowly got up and looked around groggily. Everyone was moving around, getting ready for the upcoming battle once again. He got to his station and started to prepare as well when the strike came.

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Kruss' motions and actions on the field of battle were strangely fluid. He seemed to be rather relaxed and smiling as he took to defending his area with ease.

Many demons had come at him, and all had retreated away, easily getting beaten by the younger god. Many had simply expected him to be easy prey, but they were proved quite wrong.

It was during a battle with three demons that Kruss was slashed down his back and behind each arm and shoulder. He didn't even seem to notice, until a small opening gave way for a demon to plunge its spear head into his thigh.

He'd been defending well against them until one demon over-extended an attack and one hesitated too long before attacking. At that moment, he'd made a simultaneous attack on both, but in the process left himself open for a split second too long.

Kruss roared in pain as he was immediately snapped out of his funk and stupor, and fought back with a vengeance. He'd taken little more than twenty seconds after that to de-arm all three demons. He relieved each of the demons of both there arms before turning back to go to one of the healers. What made him stop was the sight of three demons protecting a suspicious looking one. And they were coming nearer to the World Tree.

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Kruss paused, looked at the back lines of defense and then nodded to his cover. He immediately turned around and flew at the group of four demons. The demon ahead of the others quickly motioned for the unarmed demon to step back and hide away from combat.

Shortly after Kruss engaged the enemy, despite the tremendous amount of pain he was feeling. He simply sat in front of them for a second, and both parties stared at the other. It is said that gauging an opponent first is the easiest way to tell and guess his strength.

He turned to look at his three opponents after glancing back. Without warning, two of the three charged. Dodge left, parry right, duck, sidestep, roll and regain footing and wince. Everything was second nature now. He easily made his way back around behind one of the demons, as he was far faster, even in his injured state. With a hard punch and forceful dragging of his weapon, he disarmed one of his opponents. Literally. The demon, like so many others, was now missing an arm. The demon cried out in pain and clutched the stump and quickly retreated behind his comrades.

Kruss quickly moved back so he could see the remaining two threats. One still stood in the background, with no weapons drawn or shown. His weapons quickly came to his front and he began to attack the demon closest to him. Each seemed to anticipate and react according to whatever attack the other could throw at them.

It was a long battle that lasted near half an hour. Many of the other gods on the field were often glancing back to the young warrior and his demon foe. It was then that he received a small blessing when the supporters turned to help Kruss. The demon was slowly starting to wear down against the attacks of four gods.

Kruss had his back to the other demon, and was about to defeat his demon partner when he heard a shout and felt a stinging pain in his back. He realized what must've happened. But before any more stinging sensations found him, the demon behind him cried out. Daisen had crossed the field in an instant and cut off not only the demons arms, but his legs as well.

Kruss glancing back was just the opportunity to take advantage of. His demon attacker quickly forced him back and away. With a flurry of motion, he was now staring at the demon from one of the mighty roots of Yggdrasil. He saw the sword come up and stared at the point.

Before anything could happen, however, Kruss saw the demon slowly backing away. He had no idea why until he looked back behind him, and saw both Daisen and Thor with their weapons at the ready to attack. The demon quickly turned tail and fled, leaving the sole demon, the hacker, to fend for himself.

Everyone cheered as they apprehended the demon that caused the entire ruckus. He was to be taken immediately to one of the camps and sealed.

Kruss turned to thank his friend and Thor for their help. It was obvious that Daisen was just as worried as Kruss about the dream, and he'd been preparing for it. It was when he noticed the serious looks on their faces that made him pause.

"We're received a summons Kruss, we're to report back to the heavens immediately for a conference."

Kruss nodded as he looked at the seriousness on Thor's face. And even looking at the brutish face, he could sense a hint of sadness and remorse. Kruss shook the feeling off as he turned to his comrade and nodded again.

Both turned and left the battlefield. Their work done once again, unaware of what horrible news awaited them upon their return.

**A/N:** Took a long time to finish, but this is it. Thanks to Duo (aka Thaylien) for being pretty much the only reviewer of this story.

I don't know how much longer I'll put off _Destiny's Beginning_, but the time for it to return may be soon.

Until later!


End file.
